gMrriiffairrtii7Tfl.7rTiimT»ra^^^ 


A PLEA 


FOR 


Peace, Preparedness 
and Good Roads 
Everywhere 



Containing a short Biographical sketch, 
and photo of the author 


By LAMAR FONTAINE, C. E. and Ph D. 

LYON, COAHOMA COUNTY, 
MISSISSIPPI 

JULY 17th, 1917 


TUCKER PRINTIN8 HOUSE JACKSON MISS 



























* ■ 



0 






am 



* * » 




« 


' N / S ( ^JtrvrvK^ O^^nr,* 




/ 

XU. 





c ^ A y*r\~ mA*^- 



m&ms& 













yi Plea for Peace, Preparedness, and Qood P^oads, 6p one who 
has passed through all the Caprices, of Life, and a Sur¬ 
vivor of seven different Wars, and all their 
Horrors, and Jittendant Vicissitudes 

oooooooooooooc 


MAN of remarkable experiences, is 
Major Lamar Fontaine. A man who 
won his title in the Armies of Stone¬ 
wall Jackson, Joseph E. Johnston, and 
Robert E. Lee, during the Invasion, 
and Bloody Conquest of the South, by 
the Armies of the North, under the 
Administration of Abraham Lincoln, 
and his Lieutenants. From his birth, 
in a tent, on Laberde Prairie, in what 
is now Washington County, Texas, 
(his being the first male birth, in 
Stephen F. Austin’s Colony, after it 
crossed South of the Brazos River,) 
on the 10th day of October, A. D. 1829, he has been a soldier of 
strange fortunes. From his birth place looking due west, and from 
a meridian line drawn due North, to the Canadian border, there 
was not a White Settlement between it, and the Pacific Ocean. He 
was six years old, before he ever saw a house. While encamped 
on Laberde Prairie, when but three years old, there came into the 
encampment, an old Polish Exile, a Baron by birth, who had been 
banished from Europe, for the part he took in the Polish Rebellion. 
This learned old man, took full control of Lamar; and for seven 
years, he was his tutor. He made him a thorough Latin and Creek 
scholar; taught him his letters from a Latin Grammar. He stored 
his infant mind, with the legends of the Ancient Sages, of Greece, 
and Rome; and the wonderful oratory of Demosthenes, and Cicero, 
were fastened in his brain cells, in the music of their native tongues, 
as well as the inspired Lyrics of Virgil, and Homer. The adven¬ 
tures of Ulysses, Hercules, and all the great war gods, of that by¬ 
gone age, filled his youthful mind, with a longing to be like them. 
He taught him the manly arts of fencing, boxing, the broadsword, 








4 


PLEA FOR PEACE 


exercises. He became the most expert horseman, the best marks¬ 
man, with rifle or pistol, among the trained boys, and men, of the 
hardy adventurers of that day, and age. In his tenth year, he was 
captured by a roving band of Comanche Indians; living with 
them, in a state of nudity; devoid of all clothing except fur moc¬ 
casins, mits, and ear protectors, in the winter time; roaming with 
his captors, from the sheltered valleys of the Rio Grande River on 
the South, to the Black Hills of the Dacotahs, on the North. Fol¬ 
lowing the Buffalo, backwards and forwards, along the foot hills, 
and in the Canons, of the Rocky Mountains, for nearly five years. 
This exposed, nomadic life, gave him an insight, to the modes, and 
habits, ideas, and superstitions, and traditions, of these brave, 
hardy Nomads; and gave him a constitution, and vigor of frame, 
and an eagle vision, and a perfectly trained observant mind, that 
fitted him for the hardships, and powers of endurance, that has 
brought him through adventures, and dangers, that have carried 
off millions of others under less pressure. Upon his escape from 
the Indians, he went to sea, a boy eager for life. For sixteen years, 
he was a wanderer over the whole world. He sailed as far North, 
as the 79th Parallel, and as far South, as the 76. He has seen the 
thermometer sink as low as 90 degrees below zero, and remain so, 
for 72 hours, without changing. He crossed the Desert of Sahara, 
on camel back, from the City of Fez, to the Valley of the Nile; 
thence down the Nile from the Ruins of Karnack, to the Delta; 
exploring the Mummy Vaults, the ruined cities, and all the Pyra¬ 
mids. He was with Bollinbrook, when he made his Treaty with 
China; and with Perry in his expedition to Japan, when he aided 
the Maritime Powers, in breaking up the nests of the Malay Pirates. 
He took the oaths, of the Bramah Priests, became one, and served 
as such, for eleven months in India, and thirteen months, in China, 
and Thibet. He was with Lieut. Lynch, in the Holy Land. Visited 
the sacred City of Ned Jeff as a Mohammedan Priest, after mem¬ 
orizing the Koran, and studying the attitude of the Priests, and 
their gesticulations, and the intonations of their voices as well as 
their attitudes, while muttering their prayers, and rituals, until 
he was perfect, in every detail. He was with Lynch in the Holy 
Land. He traversed two hundred, and fifty miles, of the Great 
Chinese Wall. He was with Lieut. William Louis Herndon, in his 
explorations of the Amazon River. He surveyed the Andean 
Plateau, from Cuzco, to Lake Titicaca. He was a member of Prince 


PLEA FOR PEACE 


5 


Gortschokoff’s Kioski Cossack Body Guard, in the siege of Sevas¬ 
topol, during the Crimean War. In January, 1861, he landed at 
Pensacola, Florida, and aided in the capture of the Forts McCrea, 
Barancas, the Redoubt, and the Navy Yard; and in April, 1861, 
he became a member of Company “A” of the 10th Miss. Infantry 
Regiment; and later, was transferred to Company “K” of the 18th 
Regiment of Miss. Infantry, and later, to Company “I” of the 2nd 
Virginia Regiment of Cavalry. In November, he was selected by 
Stonewall Jackson, as his headquarters Scout, Secret Service, 
Sharp Shooter, and Amanuensis. He served with him, from No¬ 
vember, 1861, until Jackson’s death, in May, 1863. He was then 
sent to Gen. Joseph E. Johnston. He was wounded sixty-seven 
times. In June, 1862, he was wounded near Staunton, Virginia, 
and carried to the hospital at Charlottsville, and lay for twenty- 
one days, in an iron frame, clamped tight, and suspended by ropes, 
and pulleys, to the hospital ceiling, that his broken bones, might 
knit, and heal. He was the best Marksman, in the Army of North¬ 
ern Virginia. A letter from General Robert E. Lee, tells of his 
having killed sixty men, in sixty minutes, with his single rifle, near 
Waterloo Bridge, on the Rappahanock River, on August 26th, 1862. 
While a “Discharged Soldier,” unfit for military duty, he carried 
18,000 Musket Gun Caps, through Gen. U. S. Grant’s besieging 
lines, to Gen. J. C. Pemberton, in Vicksburg. He was married in 
Yazoo City, in June, 1866. He has raised, educated, and given homes 
to eight children, four boys and four girls. One of his boys, the 
oldest, and his third daughter, both were married, are dead. He 
has one grand son, and one son, now, in the U. S. Army; many of 
his grand children, are in the employ of the Government, as well 
as another son, and his eldest daughter. 

Let us look well at this MAN. As Captive, Hunter, Explorer, 
Surveyor, Civil Engineer, Traveler, Sailor, Navigator, Soldier. Is 
that not material enough, for a thrilling romance? Under every 
sun, in every clime, among Red Men, Brown Men, Black, and 
Yellow Men; in the Torrid Zone, in the Temperate or Frigid; well 
or wounded, fed or starved, captive or free, he was always an ob¬ 
server, a thinker about men, manners and government. A survivor 
of the “IMMORTAL SIX HUNDRED,” Morris Island, Prisoners of 
War; who were subjected to the most barbarous treatment, ever 
inflicted upon a band of helpless prisoners, by the most savage 


6 


PLEA FOR PEACE 


races, of barbarians, recorded in all history. First having been 
placed for eighteen days, in the foul hold, of a coasting vessel, the 
Crescent City, plying between Philadelphia, and Charleston, S. C., 
below the furnaces, and coal bunkers, below the water line, on 
wooden shelves like bales of dry goods, with only one cloth, tube, 
air vent, but ten inches in diameter, running down to them, from 
45 feet above their heads; and only one sink hole, for the use of the 
Six Hundred, situated on the top paddle box of the propelling 
wheel, where only one man at a time, could use it, all the way, 
from Fort Delaware, to Morris Island; with the thermometer stand¬ 
ing 143 Degrees above the Zero mark, the whole time. Then on 
landing on Morris Island, these 600, pale, weak, and exhausted men, 
were marched two miles, across deep sand, and placed on an open 
sand bar, right under the guns of the Federal batteries, Chatfield, 
Waggoner, and Gregg, and as near as possible to the frowning 
guns, of their own men, defending the City, and inner harbor, of 
Charleston, South Carolina. Here these six hundred Immortals, 
were under the guard of the 54tli Massachusetts Volunteer, Negro 
Regiment, commanded by Lieut. Col. E. N. Hallowell. They had 
to dig holes in the sand, and drink the siep water; they were fed 
on hot, salty, pea soup, full of sand, and seasoned with fat, tainted 
bulk pork; and condemned “Hard Tack,” and Ship Biscuit, honey 
combed by bugs, weevils, and slick, hard worms. And for forty- 
two days, and nights, the guns of Batteries Waggoner, Gregg, and 
Chatfield, would send their shells screaming over their heads, pre¬ 
maturely exploding one in their midst, as they lay without shelter, 
upon the naked sand; and in reply to the salvos of the Federal 
Batteries in their rear, would come volleys of shells, and humming 
cannon balls into their midst from the Confederate batteries. After 
forty-two days of this treatment, they were crowded on to barges, 
taken down to Fort Pulaski, and Hilton Head. And here, by the 
command of the Federal Government, under Abraham Lincoln, 
they were placed in the empty Casemates, of the Fort, in steel 
barred cages, holding from twenty to twenty-six men; and facing 
the Federal Cooks, where they were preparing the meals, for the 
garrison, and Prison Guards; they were fed on Rotton Corn Meal, 
(which had been kiln dried, and barreled, at South Bend, Indiana, 
three years before) for sixty-five days. And accompanying this 
rotten meal ration, was added an ounce or more, of stale, barreled 
pickles; so sour, that it burned the fingers, as well as lips, like 


PLEA FOR PEACE 


7 


aqua fortis. This meal was of every color of rainbow; hard 
as an hour old tub of cement and held together, by masses of cob 
webs, and was a working mass of bugs, weevil, moths, hard, long, 
white, as well as soft hairy worms. Five-eighths of a pint of this 
stuff, and several ounces of the soft, slimy, sour pickle, constituted 
a prisoner’s daily ration, given him once in twenty-four hours. 
The cooks, in front of these Casemated, Steel barred cells, would, 
at every meal, hold up tempting plates of the richest viands, to 
the gaze of these helpless, starving Prisoners, and say, “Don’t you 

D-d Rebel S-s of B-s, wish you had some of this 

grub.” Now are not the Survivors, of this Cruel, Inhuman Treat¬ 
ment, entitled to the name they bear, “The IMMORTAL SIX 
HUNDRED?” Their captors, could not sweat, or cook them to 
death, or smother them in the heated hold of the Prison Ship. The 
thousands of Confederate Shells, and humming cannon balls, and 
the PREMATURELY exploded shells of the near by Federal Bat¬ 
teries, could not shoot them to death; and the sixty-five days on 
Rotton Corn Meal, and Pickle Menu, failed to Starve them to 
death. After all Lamar Fontaine sits dreaming today, this warm, 
bright July day, 1917, upon his shaded porch, in his great arm 
chair, smoking his old dark colored merschaum pipe, filled with 
fragrant Perique; and the soft sea born zephyrs, fresh from the 
sun kissed waves of the semi-tropic Mexic Sea, fanning his time 
wrinkled brow, and heavily ladened with the perfume of orange, 
the rose, and the Magnolia; he seems to be dreaming. He feels 
that he is once more, a wild captive Indian boy, on the grassy plains 
of the far West, devoid of even a cloud. Through the misty veils 
of Memory, he treads the Ice Fields of Greenland, and watches the 
ever varying hues of the Aurora Borealis, touching with their paint 
brushes, the snows that rest eternal, on the Mountain Tops. And 
he contends, that this wonderful electric light, made by the meet¬ 
ing of the positive, and negative rays, floating up from the Equator, 
and meeting in battle array, over the North Pole, is the sword of 
the Cherubim, set by the Creator, to guard this sacred ground from 
the footsteps of any intruder. A passing dream, hurls him into 
the midst of that awful fire, that battered down the inner fortress 
of the harbor, at Sevastopol, and buried him under the debris, of 
the Malakoff. His senses vibrate at the thunder of the guns, at 
Vera Cruz; and the smile on his weather beaten brow, indicates that 
he is amid the beautiful calm seas of the Indian, and Pacific Oceans, 





8 


PLEA FOR PEACE 


watching the bird like antics of the vari-hued fish, as they dart, as 
if on wings, amid coral wreathed buds, and flowers, and sport in 
the clear waters of the atolls that bubble up, from unknown depths. 
Again with his Bedouin Arab Friends, he is crossing the parched 
sands of Sahara, and leaving behind, its wonderful Mirages, and 
desert horrors. Now he is on the “trail way,” of the great Chinese 
Wall, measuring its wonderful towers; and he contends that they 
were grey with age, before the Sphinx, or the Pyramids of Egypt 
were built. Watch him, as he glides along over the steppes of Si¬ 
beria, to the North East Cape of Kamschatka; thence westward, be¬ 
hind the fleet footed Reindeer, over the snows of Siberia, to the low 
marshes, of the once proud City of the Romanoffs. He is looking 
now, at the grand, and gloomy palaces of Germany, Belgium, and 
France; he gazes at the lovely statuary, and the wonderful works 
of Art, and the vast Cathedrals, of the fairy land of Italy. 

He starts in his Dreaming; for he hears the growl and sees the 
Yellow Eyes of the Royal Tiger, swelling up from the bamboo glens 
of Bengal, India. The deep bass growl, and jarring purr, of the 
tawny-maned lion of Eastern Africa, and the loud trumpeting of 
its giant Elephants, seemingly ring in his ears. He wanders amid 
the dense forests of the Amazon. He sees the vine like forms of 
the Boa-Constrictors, twined around the trunks and limbs of the 
trees; hears the wild ehatterings of the monkey tribes as they dis¬ 
cover their deadly enemy. And he strays along, and down, into 
the deep, gold laden Canons of the Rio Madre Di Dios, that flows 
from beneath the beautiful Lake Titicaca, that rests, and slumbers, 
at the feet of the snow capped Volcanoes, of that Back Bone of the 
Western Hemisphere. Now he hears the sweet melodies, of the 
dark-eyed maidens, as they touch the strings of their guitars, 
floating out on the moonlit waters of Lake Managua. Again his 
visions, and his dreams slip their moorings, and he is amid the 
shouting legions, hears the crash of musketry, and the deep diapa¬ 
son of the Confederate Guns, hurling their missiles of death, into 
the living masses of Grant’s charging hosts, on the serrated hills 
of Vicksburg. He sees the folds of the “Southern Cross,” with its 
white stars shining brightly above him, as he charges into that 
“Hell of Fire,” at Spottsylvania’s “Bloody Angle,” and he sees 
around him, red fields of Death covered with the bleeding, shot 
torn carcasses of his friends, and kinsmen; hears the low, sad wails 
of the dying, with the death-rattle sounding in their throats. 


PLEA FOR PEACE 


9 


But he is waking now. His pipe drops from his fingers, and 
rests upon the floor; and from the topmost branch of a shade tree, 
comes the soft notes of the Southern Mocking Bird; the sweetest 
soloist, of all the feathered tribes of earth, as he rises on silver grey 
wings, tipped with white, and pours out his melodies, attuned to 
Heaven’s harmonies; grander, sweeter, purer, than ever -rang from 
earthly choristers, or floated through the gilded aisles, or fretted 
domes of the world’s grandest Cathedrals. He is wide awake now, 
and has promised to tell us in the next few pages of this little work, 
how best to end this world wide war and how to bring peace, pre¬ 
paredness, union, and good roads, to all our people. Don’t you 
want to hear him? Then scan the following pages and he’ll tell 
you how. 

I think that I am a “True American,” as I have no tincture 
of foreign blood in my veins. My ancestors, who landed at the 
foot of the Falls of the James River, where the City of Richmond, 
Virginia, now stands, on the 7th day of June, 1607, and penetrated 
the dense forests, of the surrounding territory; hewed a pathway 
over the Blue Ridge; scaled the rugged peaks of the Allegheney 
Mountains; laid out a highway, down into the cane brakes, and 
jungle wilds, to the shores of the mighty Mississippi River; crossed 
its turbid tide on frail logs, bound together by grape vines, cut 
from overhanging branches of the giant oaks, that grew upon its 
banks; and mirrored their proud, athletic forms, in the waters of 
the glassy lakes, on the plains of the far West; despite the myriads 
of the wild beasts of prey, and the hordes of skulking savage Red 
Men, that beset their journeys, on every hand; and by their own 
prowess, graded a highway, and erected a temple of freedom, and 
Liberty, that has been a refuge, to the Emigrants, of all the tyrant 
cursed nations of earth from that day to this. I say, being a lineal 
descendant, of these brave men, and women; I have not a drop 
of foreign blood, coursing through my veins; for the insects, and 
the blood sucking parasites, of the tick, and mosquito tribes sucked 
every drop of their original blood, out of their veins, long before 
it pleased the Great Creator, to let me open my eyes, upon this 
fair land of ours. 

I love with a pure love, such as only a child can give its 
mother, this land of my birth. And I would give every drop of 
my blood, every possession I have, and my eternal soul’s salvation, 


10 


PLEA FOR PEACE 


to guard her from destruction, from any foreign, or domestic foe. 
I am, de-facto, a 4 ‘True American.” Now with this statement, and 
these facts before you, I want you to understand, that I do not 
approve of the modes, and reasons, as set forth by the men now 
at the head of my country. They have stilled the voice of the 
people, and betrayed the trust imposed in them. “Stop, Look, and 
Listen,” to the Reasons I shall present, for my non approval. 
During the Presidential Canvass, which ended on November the 7th, 
1916; from every stump, rostrum, and pulpit, on the American 
Continent, from the Great Lakes on the North, to the Mexican 
Border on the South, and from the Atlantic, to the Pacific Oceans, 
peans of praise ascended to Candidate Woodrow Wilson, for keep¬ 
ing my loved Country, out of the Dance of Death, and the Mael¬ 
strom of War, bathing the whole Eastern Hemisphere, in a sea of 
blood. 

I read his Chicago Speech, and noted well what he said, when 
he solemnly declared, “All wars are brought about by the 
RULERS, and not by the PEOPLE. ’’ 

I was sure, from this expression, that we had the right man, for 
our President; a man, who if given a second term, in the Presi¬ 
dential Chair, would keep us out of war. And when the Demo¬ 
cratic, nominating convention assembled at St. Louis, I was en¬ 
thusiastic in my praise of Woodrow Wilson. And I was still more 
enthusiastic, and shouted louder, when I read the nominating 
speech, of Governor Glynn, as given in the published reports of 
that convention; for it plainly let the world see, the United States 
were still guided by the Spirit Hand, of its Patriotic Founders. 
That you may see how it accorded with the teachings of my gifted 
ancestors, and flowed in the channels of thought, of every true 
American Citizen, of our great Republic, I will quote here the 
greater part, of that Great, True American Doctrine, as shown by 
Governor Glynn. Now, before I give you excerpts from his speech, 
as reported, and published; you must remember that the Republi¬ 
cans had poured out vials of wrath, upon Woodrow Wilson’s head, 
because his NEUTRALITY POLICY, the TRUE AMERICAN 
POLICY, was keeping our great nation out of the war in Europe, 
and preventing the sparks, and fire brands, from kindling the fires 
of Death, on our shores. And with the Republican party, was 
arrayed the Aristocrats of Soulless Wealth, who were filling their 


PLEA FOR PEACE 


11 


coffers with gold, and saying, “Damn the People, they are but 
Beasts.” Now Governor Glynn said of Wilson’s Neutrality: 
“THIS is the PARAMOUNT ISSUE. No lesser issue must cloud 
it, no unrelated problems must confuse it. 

“In the submission of this ISSUE, to the ELECTORATE, we. 
of this Convention, hold these TRUTHS to be self evident to every 
STUDENT of AMERICA’S HISTORY, to every FRIEND of 
AMERICA’S INSTITUTIONS; 

“FIRST—That the United States is CONSTRAINED by the 
TRADITIONS of ITS PAST, by the Logic of ITS PRESENT, and 
by the promise of the FUTURE, to HOLD ITSELF APART from 
the European Warfare, to save its CITIZENS from participation 
in the CONFLICT THAT NOW devastates the Nations across the 
Seas. 

SECOND—That the UNITED STATES, in its relations with 
the European Beligerents, MUST CONTINUE THE POLICY, that 
IT HAS PURSUED, since the BEGINNING of THE WAR, the 
STRICT NEUTRALITY IN RELATION TO EVERY WARRING 
NATION, the POLICY that THOMAS JEFFERSON defined as 
“Rendering to ALL the SERVICES, and COURTESIES OF 
FRIENDSHIP, and Praying for the RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF 
PEACE, and RIGHT.” (Now right here, I wish to remark, and 
call attention to the fact that Woodrow Wilson, did issue his 
famous Proclamation, Known as “PEACE WITHOUT VICTORY,” 
to all these warring Nations, in conformation with Jefferson’s Ad¬ 
vice, as outlined by Governor Glynn; the whole world remembers 
that edict.) 

Third—(Now note the words of Governor Glynn well.) “That 
save where the LIBERTIES, THE TERRITORY, OR THE SUB¬ 
STANTIAL RIGHTS OF THE UNITED STATES ARE INVADED, 
AND ASSAULTED, it is THE DUTY OF THIS NATION, TO 
AVOID WAR BY EVERY HONORABLE MEANS. 

FOURTH—That it is the DUTY of the UNITED STATES 
GOVERNMENT, to MAINTAIN THE DIGNITY, and HONOR of 
the AMERICAN NATION, and in EVERY SITUATION; to 
DEMAND, and SECURE, from EVERY BELIGERENT, the 
RECOGNITION of the NEUTRAL RIGHTS OF ITS CITIZENS. 


12 


PLEA FOR PEACE 


FIFTH—That the PRESIDENT of the UNITED STATES 
(Woodrow Wilson—I add in parenthesis) has asserted these 
PRINCIPLES, and PURSUED THESE POLICIES, and the Ameri¬ 
can People MUST SUPPORT HIM WITH ARDOR, AND WITH 
ENTHUSIASM, in order that these POLICIES AND PRINCIPLES 
MAY BE KNOWN TO ALL THE WORLD, not as the OPINION 
OF AN INDIVIDUAL, BUT AS THE DOCTRINE, AND FAITH 
OF A LOYAL, AND A UNITED NATION. 

“In EMPHASIS of these SELF EVIDENT PROPOSITIONS, 
WE ASSERT, that the POLICY OF NEUTRALITY, is as truly 
AMERICAN, as the AMERICAN FLAG! 

“For Two Hundred Years, NEUTRALITY WAS A THEORY; 
AMERICA MADE IT A FACT. 

“The FIRST PRESIDENT of the United States, (George 
Washington of course) was the FIRST MAN to PRONOUNCE 
NEUTRALITY as a RULE of INTERNATIONAL CONDUCT; for 
in April, 1793, WASHINGTON DECLARED THE DOCTRINE; 
and in a month, JOHN JAY, Chief Justice of the SUPREME 
COURT of the United States, in an EPOCH MAKING DECISION 
FROM THE BENCH, whose realization would insure UNIVERSAL, 
AND PERPETUAL PEACE, wrote the PRINCIPLE into the LAW 
OF THE LAND. 

“The Declaration of our Independence had foretold it by 
declaring “The rest of mankind, ENEMIES IN WAR, in PEACE 
Friends.’’ The Constitution RECOGNIZED IT, but the FIRST 
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, by Proclamation, and 
the FIRST CHIEF JUSTICE, BY INTERPRETATION, gave it 
VITALITY, AND POWER. AND SO NEUTRALITY IS AMERI¬ 
CAN IN ITS INITIATION. 

“Thirty years later, Prime Minister Canning, in the British 
Parliament, pointed to this American Policy of NEUTRALITY, as 
a MODEL for the whole world; and EIGHTY YEARS later, after 
approval by various statutes and agreements, it was written almost 
word for word, in the TREATY, whereby we settled our differences 
with England, over violations of NEUTRALITY, throughout the 
Civil War. So NEUTRALITY is AMERICAN in its CONSUMMA¬ 
TION. And today, (Remember he was in the Convention Hall in 
St. Louis, Missouri, making his speech Nominating Woodrow Wil¬ 
son for a second term, as President of the United States;) in this 


PLEA FOR PEACE 


13 


Hall, so that ALL THE WORLD MAY HEAR, we proclaim that 
this AMERICAN POLICY OF NEUTRALITY, IS THE POLICY 
WHICH THE PRESENT ADMINISTRATION PURSUES WITH 
PATRIOTIC ZEAL, and RELIGIOUS DEVOTION, WHILE 
EUROPE’S SKIES BLAZE RED FROM THE FIRES OF WAR, 
and Europe’s soil turns red from the blood of men, and Europe’s 
EYES SEE RED, from the TEARS OF MOURNING WOMEN, and 
from sobs of starving children. Now note with deep, and keen 
interest, the following excerpt, from his grand, noble and excep¬ 
tional expose of facts: "The MEN who say this POLICY is not 
AMERICAN, APPEAL TO PASSION, AND PREJUDICE, AND 
IGNORE THE FACTS OF HISTORY. Yes, NEUTRALITY, is 
AMERICA’S contribution to the LAWS OF THE NATIONS OF 
THE WORLD. 

"Sir Henry Maine says so; Charles Francis Adams says so; 
Henry Clay says so; Daniel Webster says so; and upon the evidence 
of these WITNESSES, WE REST OUR AMERICANISM, against 
the SPUTTERINGS of PEPPERPOT POLITICIANS, or the 
FABRICATIONS of those with whom a FALSE ISSUE IS A GOOD 
ISSUE until its falsity is shown, and its maliciousness is exposed. 

"For ENFORCING this POLICY OF NEUTRALITY, George 
Washington was HOOTED, by a HOWLING MOB of Ten Thou¬ 
sand WAR FANATICS, who threatened to pull him from the 
Presidential Car, and start a REVOLUTION. But half a Century 
later, Charles Sumner said that Washington UPHOLDING THE 
PEACEFUL NEUTRALITY OF THIS COUNTRY, while he met 
UNMOVED, the CLAMOR OF THE PEOPLE WICKEDLY CRY¬ 
ING FOR WAR, IS A GREATER MAN THAN WASHINGTON 
CROSSING THE DELAWARE, OR TAKING CORNWALLIS’ 
SWORD AT YORKTOWN. 

"For supporting this POLICY OF NEUTRALITY, Alexander 
Hamilton was STONED ALMOST TO DEATH; and yet today, 
New York HONORS HAMILTON with a Statute, and REPUBLI¬ 
CANS bow down to him, as a GOD OF WISDOM. For supporting 
this policy of Neutrality, John Jay was burned in effigy upon a 
thousand hills; and yet today, the portrait of John Jay hangs in 
nearly every Court Room in the land. 

"For supporting this policy of NEUTRALITY, Thomas Jeffer¬ 
son was called a "SPINELESS POLTROON,” and yet today JEF- 


14 


PLEA FOE PEACE 


FERSON is hailed as one of the WISE MEN of the World; and for 
MILLIONS, his opinions are a POLITICAL BIBLE. 

“Condemned in their day, for supporting this policy of NEU¬ 
TRALITY, these men are now looked up to, by every AMERICAN, 
for every conception of that which is BEST, in AMERICAN CITI¬ 
ZENSHIP. (Now mark well, the next utterance of Governor 
Glynn, and see the effect upon the men, representing the entire 
DEMOCRACY of the American Nation, assembled in that Nomi- 
nating Convention Hall.) 

“THE FATE of the FATHERS OF OUR COUNTRY, at the 
hands of a NOISY MINORITY, is THE FATE OF THE PRESI¬ 
DENT OF THE UNITED STATES TODAY; but their reward of 
DIGNITIES MERITED, AND HONORS CONFERRED, WILL BE 
HIS, WHEN THE PEOPLE SPEAK, ON THE SEVENTH OF 
NEXT NOVEMBER.” 

(Now the papers, and the Little Book of the Proceedings say, 
that at this point in his Speech, that the greatest and most enthu¬ 
siastic applause greeted him; and that the entire building shook, 
with the roar of voices; flags waved, hats, and handkerchiefs, 
gloves, and papers, were thrown high toward the ceiling; and for 
an hour, this tumult of approval continued.) As soon as quiet 
reigned, Governor Glynn continued thus: 

“My friends you DO WELL to CHEER the STAND of the 
PRESIDENT OF THE United States on the QUESTION OF NEU¬ 
TRALITY ; because in his stand, the President of the United States 
STANDS WITH THE MEN WHO MADE AMERICA, AND WHO 
SAVED AMERICA. Where is the AMERICAN hardy enough to 
challenge a policy so FIRMLY FIXED in the Nation’s Traditions? 
Is there among us ANY MAN bold enough to set HIS WISDOM 
ABOVE THAT OF WASHINGTON, HIS PATRIOTISM ABOVE 
THAT OF HAMILTON, and HIS AMERICANISM ABOVE THAT 
OF JEFFERSON? Is there any AMERICAN SO BLIND TO OUR 
PAST, SO HOSTILE TO OUR FUTURE, that, DEPARTING FROM 
OUR POLICY OF NEUTRALITY, HE WOULD HURL US HEAD¬ 
LONG INTO THE MAELSTROM OF WAR ACROSS THE SEA? 
(Now have we, under the Newer Regime found any? Was there 
a sane Man in that vast audience, within the sound of Governor 
Glynn’s voice, who thought for an instant, that the President of 
the United States, when re-elected, by a overwhelming vote, would 


PLEA FOR PEACE 


15 


be the man to betray us, and hurl our land into that Maelstrom of 
War, raging across the sea, as he has done?) Now Governor 
Glynn assured us that Woodrow Wilson was against war; and these 
are the words that he uttered at that time, and place. 

“The President of the United States stands today, where stood 
the Men who MADE AMERICA, AND SAVED AMERICA. He 
stands where John Adams stood, when he told King George that 
AMERICA WAS THE LAND HE LOVED, and that PEACE WAS 
HER GRANDEUR, AND HER WELFARE. He stands where 
General Grant stood, when he said, ‘There never was a war that 
could not have been settled BETTER SOME OTHER WAY/ He 
stands where George Washington stood, when HE PRAYED that 
HIS COUNTRY would never unsheath the SWORD, except in 
SELF DEFENSE, so long as JUSTICE, and our ESSENTIAL 
RIGHTS, could be preserved without it. 

“For vain glory, or for selfish purposes others may cry up a 
POLICY OF BLOOD and IRON, but the PRESIDENT OF THE 
United States has acted on the belief that the LEADER OF A 
NATION, who plunges his people into an UNNECESSARY WAR, 
LIKE PONTIUS PILATE, VAINLY washes his hands of INNO¬ 
CENT BLOOD, while the EARTH QUAKES, and the HEAVENS 
ARE DARKENED, and thousands GIVE UP THE GHOST. 

“Only by standing on this ROCK OF AMERICANISM, against 
which dashed the waves of conflict, could the PRESIDENT OF 
THE UNITED STATES, FACED BY THE WORLD IN ARMS, 
SAVE THIS COUNTRY FROM BEING DRAWN INTO THE 
WHIRLPOOL OF DISASTER. Others may follow the 4 LORDS 
OF WAR,’ who ride among the corpses of Mankind. We FOLLOW 
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, who seeks the 
INSPIRATION OF HUMANITY, AND ASPIRES TO HIGHER 
THINGS. If Washington was right, if Hamilton was right, if 
Jefferson was right, if Webster was right, then the President is 
right today. In all the history of the WORLD there is no other 
National Policy that has justified itself so completely, and EN¬ 
TIRELY, as the AMERICAN POLICY OF NEUTRALITY, and 
ISOLATION, FROM THE QUARRELS OF EUROPEAN POWERS. 
Before we declared our NEUTRALITY we were embroiled in all 
the troubles of Great Britain, France and Spain; and since then 
we have had less than THREE YEARS OF WAR WITH EUROPE, 
and ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN YEARS OF AMITY, AND 
PEACE. 


16 


PLEA FOR PEACE 


“Before our declaration of NEUTRALITY, every war was a 
world wide war; and since this DECLARATION, NEARLY EVERY 
WAR HAS BEEN A LOCAL WAR. Yes, before our Declaration 
of NEUTRALITY, war was a WHIRLPOOL, ever increasing in 
area, and in its whirl, dragging down the nations of the earth. 
Since this Declaration, the Declaration of war, has become a SEA 
of Trouble upon which nations embark only from SELF WILL, 
from Self Interest, or the necessity of GEOGRAPHICAL POSI¬ 
TION, or financial obligation, or political alliance. Neutrality is 
the policy that HAS KEPT US AT PEACE, while Europe has been 
DRIVING THE NAILS OF WAR, THROUGH THE HANDS AND 
FEET OF CRUCIFIED HUMANITY. It has banished ‘CON¬ 
QUEST,' from our PROGRAM of National Greatness, and made 
us FIND OUR DESTINY AT HOME. It has forced us to build 
on the BRAWN of our Sons, and Daughters, rather than upon the 
TEARS OF CONQUERED WOMEN, and the BLOOD OF CON¬ 
QUERED MEN. It has made us seek treasures in our harvests, and 
wealth in our fields, by STAYING OUR HANDS FROM WAR’S 
BLOOD STAINED POT OF GOLD. It has been the ‘Flaming 
Sword’ which forbade us to devastate the Eden of others and 
compelled us to make an EDEN of our own. It has freed us from 
the paralyzing touch of EUROPE’S BALANCE OF POWER, leav¬ 
ing to Europe the things that are Europe’s, and PRESERVING 
for AMERICA, the INDEPENDENCE, THE PEACE, and HAPPI¬ 
NESS that now are hers.” (I will add “that were hers,” at the time 
of this Nominating Speech, but not at this time of writing.) Con¬ 
tinuing, Governor Glynn said further: “As a result of this Policy, 
AMERICA STANDS SERENE, AND CONFIDENT, MIGHTY AND 
PROUD, A TEMPLE OF PEACE AND LIBERTY, IN A WORLD 
AFLAME, A SANCTUARY WHERE THE LAMP OF CIVILIZA¬ 
TION BURNS CLEAR AND STRONG, A LIVING, BREATHING 
MONUMENT TO THE STATESMANSHIP OF THE GREAT 
AMERICANS WHO KEPT IT FREE FROM THE MENACE OF 
EUROPEAN WAR. (By the shades of those great men, is it not 
a pity, that Our Congressmen, and our President, with this much 
of Governor Glynn’s nominating speech ringing in their ears, should 
have seen fit to betray us?) 

Glynn Continued: “Wealth has come to us, Power has come 
to us; but better than WEALTH AND POWER, (now there are 
some sixty thousand members of the monied combines, and trusts 


PLEA FOR PEACE 


17 


in our midst that can’t realize this,) we have maintained for our¬ 
selves, and for our children, a nation dedicated to the ideals of 
‘peace/ rather than to the gospel of ‘selfishness/ and 
SLAUGHTER.” (Is not it a pity that this is not now the truth? 
and that a President of this country, has made it a lie?—Glynn 
continued) : “The Praises of this POLICY, are not written in the 
RUINS OF AMERICAN HOMES, nor in the WRECK OF AMERI¬ 
CAN INDUSTRIES, NOR IN THE MOURNING OF AMERICAN 
FAMILIES, they are found in the myriad evidences of PROSPERI¬ 
TY AND PLENTY, that make this contented land. From every 
whirling spindle, from every Factory wheel that turns, from every 
glowing thing that breathes its prayer of plenty to the skies, from 
every quiet school, from every crowded mart, from every peaceful 
home, goes up a song of praise, a paean of THANKSGIVING, to 
Hymn a NATION’S TRIBUTE, to the Statesmanship, that has 
brought THESE THINGS FROM THE PAST. AMERICA’S DOC¬ 
TRINE OF NEUTRALITY NEVER MEANT THAT THIS NATION 
MUST RUSH HEADLONG INTO WAR, AT THE FIRST INVA¬ 
SION OF ITS NEUTRAL RIGHTS. NEUTRALITY IS NOT HAIR 
TRIGGERED POLICY THAT EXPLODES IN VIOLENCE at the 
first assault. A Judicial view of relative values, a distinction be¬ 
tween HONOR, and SENSITIVENESS, a consideration of LIFE, 
as well as PROPERTY,—a proper equation of CONDITIONS, and 
CIRCUMSTANCES, are ELEMENTS of NEUTRALITY’S LAW. 

“ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY YEARS AGO, when 
Europe went mad with WAR, as it has gone mad today; Jefferson 
pointed to the NORTH STAR of our policy of NEUTRALITY, 
when he said, ‘In the present maniac state of Europe, we should 
not estimate the POINT OF HONOR by the ORDINARY SCALE.’ 
The reasoning that made this a SOUND RULE in the ‘MANIAC 
STATE OF EUROPE/ in Jefferson’s day, makes it an equally 
strong rule in the ‘Maniac State of Europe/ today. 

“When Grant was President, during the war between Spain, 
and the Spanish West Indies, a Spanish Gunboat seized the VIR- 
GINIUS, flying the American Flag; and a Spanish Commandant, 
in COLD BLOOD, shot the Captain of the Virginius, Thirty-six of 
her crew, and SIXTEEN of her passengers. But we did not GO 
TO WAR, for Grant settled our TROUBLES by Negotiations. 


18 


PLEA FOR PEACE 


“When HARRISON was President, the People of Chili con¬ 
ceived a violent dislike, to the United States, for our insistence 
upon NEUTRALITY, during the Chilean revolution. When this 
feeling was at its height, one Junior Officer from the United 
States War Ship ‘ Baltimore, ’ was killed outright, in the Streets 
of Valparaiso, and SIXTEEN of our Soldiers wounded, of whom 
one afterwards died. In a message to Congress, on January 25th, 
1892, supported by Secretary of State, James G. Blaine, and other 
evidence submitted by ‘Fighting Bob Evans,’ and Winfield Scott 
Schley, President Harrison said this assault on our HONOR, ‘Had 
its origin in the HOSTILITY to these men, as SAILORS of the 
United States wearing the UNIFORM of the GOVERNMENT, and 
not in an INDIVIDUAL ACT OF PERSONAL ANIMOSITY, and 
that THIS NATION must take notice of the EVENT as an IN¬ 
FRACTION of ITS RIGHTS AND DIGNITY, and an invasion of 
its INTERNATIONAL RIGHTS.’ But we did not go to war; 
Harrison settled our TROUBLES by NEGOTIATION. 

“When Lincoln was President, this Country’s Rights were 
violated on every side. England, Russia, France and Spain were 
guilty of such FLAGRANT VIOLATIONS, that Secretary of State 
Seward advanced a plan to go to war with them all, at one, and 
the same time. France used every possible influence short of 
OPEN WAR, to injure us. She permited the building of enemy 
ships not only in PRIVATE YARDS, but in her NATIONAL 
SHIPYARDS, and supplied them with munitions from her Gov¬ 
ernment Arsenals; and England did more; but we did not go 
war. Lincoln settled our troubles by Negotiation. 

“When Pierce was President, the British Minister in this 
country, and THREE of his Consuls violated our NEUTRALITY 
during the CRIMEAN WAR. We gave these Representatives of 
Great Britain their Passports, and sent them home. But we did 
not go to war. Pierce settled our TROUBLES by Negotiation. 

“When Van Buren was President, a Detachment of Canadian 
Militia, during the internal Troubles in Canada, boarded the 
United States Ship ‘Carolina’ in American Waters of Niagara 
River, killed an American member of her crew, fired the ship, and 
sent her adrift over Niagara Falls. But we did not go to war. 
Van Buren settled our Troubles by Negotiation. 


PLEA FOR PEACE 


19 


“When ADAMS was President, France PREYED UPON OUR 
COMMERCE, extended her seizures, searches and confiscations to 
the very waters of the United States themselves, until she had 
piled up, in our State Department TWENTY-THREE HUNDRED 
VIOLATIONS of NEUTRALITY LAWS. American Ambassadors, 
who sought to adjust these wrongs, were REFUSED RECOGNI¬ 
TION, AND OPENLY INSULTED AT THE FRENCH COURT. 
But we did not go to war. Adams settled our TROUBLES, by 
Negotiation. 

“When WASHINGTON, THE IMMORTAL WASHINGTON, 
was President, and NEUTRALITY FIRST DECLARED; war con¬ 
vulsed Europe; Our ships dared not put out to Sea. Commerce 
was paralyzed, and business depressed, American passengers and 
American crews were thrown into prison, and deprived of all legal 
rights. Genet, the Minister from France, fitted out Privateers in 
our harbors, flouted OUR OFFICIALS, and tried to rally this 
County to support France, in return for the help given us in the 
Revolutionary War. England and France, seized FOUR HUN¬ 
DRED OF OUR SHIPS, and Confiscated Millions of Dollars worth 
of our property; and up in Quebec, Lord Dorchester promised 
Canadian Indians the pleasure of burning American Homes, and 
Scalping American Citizens. But we did not GO TO WAR. WASH¬ 
INGTON SETTLED OUR TROUBLES BY NEGOTIATION. 

“When Jefferson was President, England seized HUNDREDS 
of our Ships, and Napoleon HUNDREDS more. England COM¬ 
PELLED OVER TWO THOUSAND American seamen to serve 
against their will, in THE ENGLISH NAVY; AND NAPOLEON 
ORDERED THE SEIZURE, AND CONFISCATION OF AMERI¬ 
CAN SHIPS, WHEREVER FOUND. Our Shipping rotted in 
FRENCH and BRITISH PORTS; their CREWS WERE CAST 
INTO PRISON, AND LEFT TO DIE OF NEGLECT. The British 
Ship ‘LEOPARD,’ fired upon the AMERICAN CRUISER 
‘ CHESAPEAKE , 9 in AMERICAN WATERS, KILLED, AND 
WOUNDED SEVERAL OF OUR SAILORS; Took three Native 
Born Americans off the Chesapeake, and hanged one of them at 
Halifax. But we did not got to war. Jefferson settled our troubles 
by Negotiation. 

“Now let us sum up the Comparative results. I assert, and 
HISTORY PROVES that from 1793 to 1807, when WASHINGTON, 
the FIRST INDEPENDENT PRESIDENT was President, when 


20 


PLEA FOR PEACE 


ADAMS the FIRST REPUBLICAN, was President; and when 
JEFFERSON, the FIRST DEMOCRAT, was President, France and 
England seized SIXTEEN HUNDRED SHIPS FLYING THE 
STARS AND STRIPES, and DESTROYED SIX HUNDRED MIL¬ 
LION OF DOLLARS WORTH OF AMERICAN PROPERTY. But 
neither the FIRST INDEPENDENT PRESIDENT, nor the FIRST 
REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT, nor the FIRST DEMOCRATIC 
PRESIDENT WENT TO WAR. They SETTLED OUR TROU¬ 
BLES BY NEGOTIATION. 

“THIS POLICY DOES NOT SATISFY THOSE WHO REVEL 
IN DESTRUCTION, AND FIND PLEASURE IN DESPAIR. It 
may not satisfy the FIRE EATER, or the SWASH BUCKLER. 
BUT IT DOES SATISFY THOSE WHO WORSHIP AT THE 
ALTAR OF THE GOD OF PEACE. It does satisfy the MOTHERS 
OF OUR LAND, AT WHOSE HEARTH, AND FIRESIDE NO 
Jingoistic War has placed an empty chair. IT DOES SATISFY 
THE DAUGHTERS OF THIS LAND, from whom BRAG AND 
BLUSTER, have sent no HUSBAND, SWEETHEART, or BROTH¬ 
ER, to the mouldering dissolution of THE GRAVE. 

“It does SATISFY THE FATHERS OF THIS LAND, and 
THE SONS OF THIS LAND, who will fight for OUR FLAG, and 
DIE FOR OUR FLAG, when REASON PRIMES THE RIFLE, AND 
WHEN HONOR DRAWS THE SWORD, WHEN JUSTICE 
BREATHES A BLESSING ON THE STANDARDS THEY 
UPHOLD. 9 ’ 

Now under the inspiration of this Nomination speech, of 
Governor Glynn, Woodrow Wilson was renominated, and elected 
for the second time, President of these United States. Governor 
Glynn being his Mouth Piece. Democrats, Republicans, and Bull 
Moosers of the TRUE AMERICANS, who loved their country, and 
revered the teachings of her Washingtons, Adamses, Jeffersons, 
and all the other great Patriots, who had founded, and guided it, 
voted for Woodrow Wilson, because he had kept us “OUT OF 
WAR,” and promised to do so, if elected again. On this promise, 
California, an overwhelming Republican State gave him a majority, 
while at the same time she gave her Republican Candidate for Sen¬ 
ator a Two Hundred Thousand Majority. Ours is a Christian 
Nation, supposedly following the teachings of Christ. In His ser¬ 
mon on the mount, He says: “Blessed are the PEACEMAKERS.” 


PLEA FOR PEACE 


21 


And throughout Christ’s entire sojourn on earth. He preached, and 
taught a Gospel of LOVE, PEACE, TRUTH, JUSTICE, MERCY, 
and ESPECIALLY FORGIVENESS. And the last words He ever 
uttered, and the last command He gave His Disciples, as He sat at 
meat, with the ELEVEN, before He was TRANSFIGURED, was: 
“Go Ye, into ALL THE WORLD, AND PREACH THE GOSPEL 
TO ALL CREATURES.” The only two Commandments He gave, 
were: “Thou shalt not COVET OR DESIRE ANOTHER MAN’S 
GOODS, NOR ANYTHING THAT IS HIS; and LOVE THY 
NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF.” And He declared most EMPHATI¬ 
CALLY, that “ON THESE TWO COMMANDMENTS, HANG ALL 
THE LAW, and THE PROPHETS.” 

Now was it not in accord with the teachings of Christ, that 
our forefathers founded, and upheld these United States? Did we 
not open wide our gates, to the oppressed people of every land? 
Did we not DECLARE that our Congress should not enact any law 
“Respecting an ESTABLISHMENT of RELIGION or PROHIBIT¬ 
ING the FREE EXERCISE THEREOF; or ABRIDGING THE 
FREEDOM OF SPEECH, OR OF THE PRESS; OR THE RIGHT 
OF THE PEOPLE PEACEABLY TO ASSEMBLE, AND PETI¬ 
TION THE GOVERNMENT FOR A REDRESS OF GRIEVAN¬ 
CES?” This was a guarantee, that we published to the whole 
world, and to all who sought homes within our borders. 

Now where did the Congress of these United States, get the 
authority to nullify this POSITIVE LAW? Why has Congress 
Declared War against the RULER, NOT THE GERMAN PEOPLE, 
who are a Nation in Europe? Why do our Rulers wish to plunge 
our Nation into this mad Whirlpool of Blood now overflowing the 
whole of Europe? I see the papers say, that it was because the 
German Kaiser did not keep a promise he made, a year, or so ago. 
Now it seems that THE PROMISE HE MADE, HAD A “STRING 
TIED TO IT,” and this was that “If we, (meaning the American 
People,) would hold the European Nations, who were Allied 
against the Germans, to a strict accountability, for the violations 
of International Law, that she (Germany), would hold up on her 
mode of procedure, in the conduct of the war now raging; and if 
we Americans failed to do this that she would at once serve notice 
to the entire world, and resume her Submarine Warfare. Did 
we undertake such a big job as that imposed upon us, without the 


22 


PLEA FOR PEACE 


people of America knowing anything about it? Now the papers 
all say, that we are going to war with the German Kaiser, “to 
spread DEMOCRACY OYER THE ENTIRE WORLD.” Now I 
don't see how the DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE OF THIS NATION, 
COULD ACCEPT THAT AS A JUST CAUSE, TO PLUNGE US 
INTO THE EUROPEAN WAR; FOR OUR PLATFORM, AND 
OUR DECLARATION OF THE PRINCIPLES, THE VERY 
FOUNDATION STONES UPON WHICH OUR GOVERNMENT IS 
FOUNDED SAYS THAT, “WE BELIEVE THAT THE PEOPLE 
OF EVERY LAND, HAVE THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE THE SOV¬ 
EREIGNTY, UNDER WHICH THEY SHALL LIVE.” Then why 
are we departing so far from the principles of onr own Govern¬ 
ment? Other papers say, that if we don’t pitch in now, while 
England, France, Russia, Japan, and Italy, are pounding upon the 
German Kaiser, and his Allies; that when the Kaiser has whipped 
them; why then Billy the Number Two; is going to bring his Vic¬ 
torious Army over here, and clean us up, and make us pay every 
cent, that it has cost him, to whip out his enemies, and make us 
pay a heavy INDEMNITY BESIDES. It seems that there is a 
mighty BIG IF, to overcome, in this assertion. For when France, 
Italy, Belgium, Roumania, Servia, England, Russia, and Japan, get 
through with Emperor Bill the Second, there won’t be much of an 
army to bring over here to conquer us with. It seems to me, that 
none of the reasons given out by the papers, are sufficient, to force 
the Greatest Nation on Earth, to take part in the Great European 
“Dance of Death,” three thousand miles from our shores. 

Of what benefit to our Free American People, is our Declara¬ 
tion of War, to spread Democracy over the world? So far this 
Declaration of War, has forced several Millions of young men, the 
brawn and sinew of our population into Military Camps, far away 
from home surroundings; and the Appropriations of Money, for 
their Support, arming and equipments, at the present War Prices 
of every article of food, clothing, and supplies of every kind, has 
forced a bonded debt of ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS, upon 
EVERY FAMILY HOUSEHOLD, in all the homes of America. 
And it has done more. It has made 30,000 new Millionaires, among 
the food, and stock dealers, since the President issued his War 
Proclamation. And the end is not yet; for the following item, from 
a Cosmopolitan News Paper, in regard to the Second Issue of Lib- 


PLEA FOR PEACE 


23 


erty Bonds, says this, I quote the article VERBATIM: “The busi¬ 
ness men of this community MUST BUY THESE LIBERTY 
BONDS. They must either CURTAIL THEIR BUSINESS, or in¬ 
stitute sayings along other lines, if that be necessary, to buy bonds. 

If they do not, the Banks will be forced to take-, quota 

of the issue, and such action on the part of the Banks, would force 
them to curtail their credits, to business interests. THERE IS NO 
ALTERNATIVE, THE BONDS MUST BE BOUGHT. It is 
EITHER BONDS, OR TAXATION, AND THE BANKS WILL BE 
FORCED TO TAKE THE ISSUE, unless the BUSINESS MEN 
RALLY TO THE SUPPORT OF THE GOVERNMENT. THIS 
WOULD MEAN FINANCIAL HARDSHIP ON BUSINESS 
INTERESTS.” 

Now whom do these LIBERTY BONDS, thus forced on a Com¬ 
munity BENEFIT? Are they not Misnamed, calling them LIB¬ 
ERTY BONDS? Where is the Liberty they disseminate? These 
bonds call for TWO BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, to be taken out of 
the hard earnings of the Cooks, Nurses, Washer Women, Clerks, 
News Paper Boys, Soldiers, Sailors, Miners, Sweat Shop Toilers, 
Factory Hands; in fact, most of it will come from the pockets of 
the Poorest of the toiling masses of our American Yoemanry. And 
what are these cents, and nickels gathered by our Rulers for? The 
censored news paper tells us they are to force American Democracy 
upon ALL THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD. This may be so, and 
it may not; for these papers, according to the records of the 
speeches published in the Government daily paper, “The CON¬ 
GRESSIONAL RECORD,” that is supposed to tell the truth, the 
Plutocrats of Wealth, of the J. P. Morgan, and their fellow Aristo¬ 
crats, in the same category, consolidated with the Food, and Muni¬ 
tions of War, and other interested Money Gamblers of Wall Street; 
combined together, last March—(March, 1915), more than a year 
before Our Congress Declared War, against the German Kaiser— 
selected a dozen of the most prominent News Paper Editors, and 
Publishers, in the United States; and gave them “Carte Blanche,” 
to select, and pay monthly, all the prominent News Papers in the 
Confines of our Country; to publish CENSORED NEWS, IN THEIR 
INTEREST. These men selected, according to the “Congressional 
RECORD,” One Hundred and Seventy-nine of these; and many 
smaller ones, in different states, counties, and communities. These 



24 


FLEA FOR PEACE 


Censors then Selected a Chief Censor, at an Enormous Salary, with 
Head Quarters in Washington City; to give out THE “DOPE,” 
most SOOTHING TO THEIR PALATES. This Chief Censor, they 
say, was IMPORTED FROM LONDON, ENGLAND; and his name 
is NORCLIFF, and is the Editor, or was before they hired him, 
of the LONDON TIMES; a great Daily, published in London, Eng¬ 
land. By this CENSORSHIP ‘ ‘ CORRUPTION, ’ ’ I may call it, on 
every page we see “TRUTHS ABOUT GERMANY,’’ staring their 
readers in the face. They tell the horrible tales, culled from the 
prejudiced brains of the CENSORS that they can conjure up; to 
send the “DEMON OF HATE,” into the hearts of our young citi¬ 
zens. Is this right? Now is it not a fact, that it is WRONG? 
The Censors know that they are lies; and that their Writers, are 
base fabricators. The “GIST OF THE WAR NEWS,” is another 
item of CONDENSED FABRICATION OF THESE EXPERT 
LIARS; emanating from the CENSOR’S BUREAU OF MY LORD 
NORCLIFF, OF LONDON, ENGLAND. Now let’s let the people, 
the whole LIVING, MOVING MASS, of the CITIZENS OF LEGAL 
AGE, and not THE INTERESTED MONEY MAD PIRATES OF 
THE COMBINES, AND TRUSTS, OF THE MORGANS, AND 
ROCKEFELLLERS, AND THEIR SUBSIDUARIES, have a say so, 
in the NEGOTIATIONS, that would bring about PEACE, AND 
GOOD WILL, instead of WAR, BLOODSHED, AND MURDER, 
AMONG THE WARRING ELEMENTS OF THE WORLD. Let 
us “STOP, LOOK AND LISTEN,” at least long enough for our 
MUFFLERS to cease their vibrations. Congress has passed a law, 
Conscripting every male inhabitant, within certain age limits, out 
of a population of a Hundred, and Twelve Million American Citi¬ 
zens. They are now being fast mobilized, under trained officers, 
in most convenient, well fed, well clothed, and well housed canton¬ 
ments, and fast being armed, and equipped, for war, for the defense 
of our common country. Billions of dollars are appropriated for their 
maintenance. Automobile Trucks by the thousands, as well as 
Horses, Wagons, and Ambulances, and many railroads, for trans¬ 
porting supplies, and munitions; are on hand. Now let THE PEO¬ 
PLE SAY, whether these hundreds of thousands, these millions of 
training men, shall be sent across the sea; to be made Soap Grease, 
Glycerine, Pigs Feed, or Fertilizers of, by the WAR MAD RULERS 
OF EUROPE, in the next THREE, OR FOUR YEARS, or shall they 
be put to grading MeAdam Highways from the Atlantic to the 


PLEA FOR PEACE 


25 


Pacific Oceans, and from the Great Lakes on the North to the sun 
kissed Savannahs of the Rio Grande, and the Gulf of Mexico, on 
the South; bringing the County Seats of every county, in every 
state in the Union, in close contact; and making the time from 
New York, by Auto Travel, but FOUR DAYS APART? Highways, 
over which in THREE DAYS TIME, A MILLION MEN, ARMED, 
AND EQUIPPED, COULD BE TRANSPORTED FROM NEW 
YORK TO SAN FRANCISCO; OR FROM CHICAGO TO MEXICO? 
Let our PEOPLE SAY, by POPULAR VOTE, whether they would 
have the Soldiers of America, sent into the Whirlpool of War, now 
raging on the European Shores, for pelf, and power, by the Kaisers, 
Czars, Kings, and Princes; not one of whom is a friend of ours; 
or whether we will leave our differences, and grievances, to arbitra¬ 
tion, and negotiations; or take our Army, NOW IN CAMP, GIVE 
THEM SPADES, AND PICKS, and put them to making a great, 
magnificent, and beautiful PARK, of our whole COUNTRY? Is 
there a sane man, woman, or child, that does not love to travel 
over a good road? 

President Wilson on the subject of GOOD ROADS, says this: 
“I believe that the building, and development of GREAT SYS¬ 
TEMS of ROADS is PSYCHOLOGICALLY SPEAKING, as well as 
PHYSICALLY SPEAKING, A TASK OF STATESMANSHIP. I 
BELIEVE IT IS THE PROPER STUDY OF THE STATESMAN, 
TO BIND COMMUNITIES TOGETHER, AND OPEN THEIR IN¬ 
TERCOURSE, SO THAT IT WILL FLOW WITH ABSOLUTE 
FREEDOM, AND FACILITY.’’ Now if President WILSON, don’t 
change his mind, as he has so frequently done lately, before we can 
take a vote on this scheme, I think he ought to settle our troubles 
with the European Powers, by NEGOTIATIONS, as did our former 
presidents, from Harrison, down to Washington. For from the 
Speeches in Congress, as given in the Congressional Record, we 
know that the Aristocrats of Wealth, the Wall Street Combines, 
the Morgans, Rockefellers, the Food, Stock and Brokerage Gamb¬ 
lers, for the sake of the high prices, and the fabulous profits accru¬ 
ing, forced their ships through the blockades, of the belligerents; 
forcing these belligerents to act contrary to the laws of Neutrality, 
as defined by our American Laws, in self-defense. One of these 
Firms, that of J. P. Morgan & Company, in the short space of thirty 
months, before we declared war, cleared NINETY MILLIONS OF 


26 


PLEA FOR PEACE 


DOLLARS from taking chances. And since War was declared. 
Thirty Thousand NEW millionaires have been made, in what is 
known as War Profits. All the necessaries of life have been forced 
beyond the purses of more than half of the toiling Masses of the 
United States. It was these Combines, and Trusts; these Money 
Mad Man Eating Sharks of Commerce, from Gold Alone, that have 
broken all the laws of American Neutrality, and forced Congress to 
Declare that we were in a state of War, and forced a debt of ONE 
THOUSAND DOLLARS, upon every household of the confines of 
America. TEN MILLIONS of our best, and noblest young men, 
have been forced into Conscript Camps, to be housed, fed, clothed, 
armed and drilled, to be sent THREE THOUSAND MILES FROM 
HOME, just because the Commercial Interests, of these HUMAN 
MONEY SHARKS demand it. Now I think and I firmly believe, 
that I voice the sentiments of nine-tenths of all the bona fide citi¬ 
zens of these United States, that if Congress, and Mr. Wilson will 
take this Great Army, of the Brawn, and Sinew of our virile popu¬ 
lation with the fabulous sums of money appropriated, and the vast 
amount of food stuff at hand; and go to work, and build McAdam, 
Gravel, Concrete, or Bitumen, and Sand Roads, from the Atlantic 
to the Pacific Oceans, and from our Great Lakes to the Sun Kissed 
shores of the Rio Grande, and the Gulf of Mexico, from county seat 
to county seat, in every county, in every state, so as to give open, 
and free intercourse with one another, in every community; we 
would be the best prepared country, for either Peace, or War, on 
this old Earth. Good roads saved France from the grip of the 
Germans, and enabled her to defeat the Kaiser’s hordes, at the 
Battle of the Marne. Yes, France’s good roads saved her from 
defeat, by permitting her to rush her army, “En Masse,” to the 
crucial point. Good roads are the greatest PREPAREDNESS, that 
CONGRESS and OUR PRESIDENT, can give to our people. Now 
shall we take our virile sons, and our LIBERTY BONDS, and pour 
them into the whirlpool of the Great European War, and leave a 
VACANT CHAIR, in every home, a weeping mother, sister, wife, 
or sweetheart in every home, merely to fill the vaults of the man 
eating sharks of Commerce, who say, “Damn the People, they are 
merely Beasts.” Or shall we put them to beautifying and making 
“Roads, and Parks of Beauty,” in the heart of our native land? 
Let our Rulers Remember, that the GOOD ROADS built by the 


PLEA FOR PEACE 


27 


legions of CAESAR, the Greatest Statesman, and General of the 
Roman People, more than 2,000 years ago, are still in existence, 
and are monuments to his genius; and are more lasting, than those 
of bronze, and marble. Mr. Wilson has said that “Wars are 
brought about, by the Rulers, and not by the people of a Nation.” 
Assuming this to be so; let him issue his Proclamation, to the 
ELECTORATE of this Great Nation, to say, by their votes, whether 
the Ten Millions of Men now being selected, drilled, and made ready 
as soldiers; shall be sent to the slaughter trenches of Europe, to be 
made into Buzzard Bait, or Soap Grease, Glycerine, Pigsfeed, or 
Fertilizers; to spread “DEMOCRACY OYER THE REALMS OF 
THE KAISER, AND HIS GERMAN ALLIES;” or shall they be 
put to work, with spades, picks, scrapers, and shovels, building 
National Highways, school houses, churches, and bridges; and set¬ 
tling, by arbitration, and NEGOTIATIONS, OUR COMMERCIAL 
TROUBLES, with the European Powers? Now this is only the 
opinion of myself; do you agree with me? If so, kindly let me 
know. “With friendship in Marble, and Enmity in dust,” I am, 
in sunshine or shower, here, and in the dim hereafter, yours for 
peace. 

LAMAR FONTAINE, C.E., and Ph.D. 




DFC 2 41917 




















. 

















- 













* 





# 

- 








. 






~ 



















V- . 






























. • 





























. 









. 












LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



0 033 266 030*5 



